Strand feeding mechanism for



Aug. 30, 1938. R. H. COLEMAN 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 17, 1936 I II`lflllll mmm STRAND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES llllllllll llllllllll Syvum.' Ro eem' H. COLEMAN Aug. 3o, 1938. R H, COLEMAN 2,128,453

STRAND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed NOV. 17; 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aeg. 3o, 193s I i STRAND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR. KNITTING MACHINES Robert H. Coleman, Thomasville, N. C., assignor of one-fourth to Ragan Knitting Company, Thomasville, N. C., a corporation of North Carolina, and one-.fourth to Maurice Mills Company Inc., Thomasville, N. C., a corporation of North Carolina Application November17, 1936, Serial No. 111,309

' 4 claims. (c1. ca -12,5)

This invention relates'to a knitting machine and more especially to means for laying ina strand in automatic knitting machines employing cylinder and dial needles.

In automatic seamless knitting machines em'- ploying both dial and cylinder needles, it is a well known fact that these machines are capable of knitting al welt at they top of the stockingtogether with a ribbed portion and a' leg portion together with heel, toe and foot portions, in

other words, knittinga complete stocking with the exception of looping the toe after the stocking is completed on the knitting machine. Other" types of dial knitting machines such as ribbed inverse machines and split foot machines, knit the complete stocking except the welt.

It has been desirable to use an elastic'strand in the ribbed top portion of the stocking to make a. l

stocking which will be self-supporting and which will remain in elevated position on the leg of the wearer without the necessity of employing supporters of any kind.

It has been possible to knit an elastic strand tern drums of the machine for operating the in the ribbed top portion but this takes 'a great quantity of yarn and also greatly decreases the elasticity of the yarn on account of knitting it into the ribbed top portion under tension. Ithas long been desired to knit the top ribbed portion and to lay the elastic strand thereinto, but 4it is a well known fact that an elastic strand cannot be fed into /the needles at the conventional point of feeding because it would result in knitting the strand into the stocking by use of the dial and cylinder needlesl It is therefore, an object of this invention to provide means. whereby an elastic strand can ber laid in-or knitted in the ribbed top portion of the stocking so that the dial needles andthe cylinder needleswill knit the conventional top yarn around the elastic yarn without engaging the elastic yarn and knitting it in any manner at all wales at all courses. It is another ,object of the invention to provide ina knitting machine a strand feeding nger having means for positioning the lower end thereof immediately outside the cylinder needles and having an`eye thereinffor feeding a strand below the latches of the cylinder needles.

It isa further object of the invention to provide a strand feeding finger in knitting machines having an' eyelet near its lower end through which a strand may be fed to some of the cylinder needles or below thelatches thereof .before they reach the -throat plate of the machine, saidv nger having one or morecaml surfaces n its leading edge sothat if the latches of the cylinder needles are not fully opened it will either open such latches or close the same and thereby prevent breakage" of the irregular need1es,. even though it results in defective work when a latch is closed by said cam surfaces.

This application is a continuation in part of my (zo-pending application Serial No. 757,521, filed December 14, 1934, which on November 24,1936,

became Patent No. 2,062,208.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhichz- Figure 1 isV an elevation of a portion of a knitting-machine showing the cylinder and meansfor feeding the elastic yarn to a portion of the knitting machine so that it will be knittedA by some of the needles vbut will not be knitted by all of the cylinder or dial needles;

Figure 21s a vertical sectional view taken along line 2--2 in Figure 1; Y

Figure 3 is a View showing the main and patmeans for feeding the elastic strand to the knitting machine; l

Figure 4 is an enlarged elevation of the lower end of the feeding nger for the elastic strand shownfin cooperation with some of the cylinder needles;

Figure 5 is a view looking at the left-hand side of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the dial cap and latch ring, showing the feed finger for the elastic strand in section;

Figure '7 is an elevation of the top of a stocking made in .accordance with my invention; l Figure 8 is an elevation showing the manner in lwhich the elastic strand is laid in the knitting and showing the loops in the knitting in a greatly separated and distended position;

Figure 12 is a side elevation of the lower end of a modied form of mystrand feeding finger;

Figure 13 is an edge View looking from the left in Figure 12; l Figure 14 is an elevation 'of the lower end of another modifed form of my strand feeding nger; Figure 15 is an edge view looking from the left in Figure 14T Referring more specifically to the drawings,

. the numeral I indicates a bracket for supportfeeding yarn to the needles at this point in case of making what is called a wrap. 'I'his comprises the member I 2 having notches therein which are closed by plates I3 and I3a forming a groove in which the yarn feeding finger is adapted to have vertical sliding movement. The wrap nger is dispensed with and in lieu thereofv a special finger ,I4 is provided for feeding the elastic yarn to the knitting machine so that it will not be knitted by all ofthe dial or cylinder needles, but may be knitted at one or two loops and laid in as shown in my patent application, Serial No. 757,521, filed December 14, 1934, which matured into Patent No. 2,062,208, on November 24, 1936, or may be knitted at alternate wales and atalternate courses as set forth in my other application being filed of even date herewith, Serial No. 111,308.

The member I2 not only supports the vertically sliding member I4'but also supports a tension spring I5 which normally pulls the yarn feed nger I4 downwardly. The yarn feed finger I4 has a laterally projectingv pin I6 under which one 1 arm of the bell crank lever I1 is adapted to project, said bell crank lever I1 being pivotally mounted as at I8, and having its other end connected to a link I 9, which, in turn, 'is slidably connected to a lever 20. The lever 20 (Fig. 3) is seen to be xedly secured to a stub arm 2I on a hub 22 mounted on a shaft 23 and fxedly secured to hub 2 2 is an arm 24 which is adapted to follow a'. cam 25 on the auxiliary pattern drum 26 of the knitting machine. Lever 20a is also xedly secured to arm 2I and is adapted to contact the main pattern drum 21 of the knitting` machine and to be moved by a cam 28 thereon.

The elastic strand 30 is fed through a yarn guide 3| and downwardly just inside the latch ring 32. The yarn feed finger I4 likewise projects downwardly just inside the latch ring 32 and just outside the cylinder needles. 'I'he dial cap 33 has a dial 34a rotatably mounted therein which has a plurality of dial needles 34 and 35 mounted therein which are controlled by suitable cams not shown. The numeral 34 indicates the hook needles while 35 indicates the cast-olf needles. The cylinder 36 of the machine has mounted therein a plurality of cylinder needles 31 which are of the conventional typeand each has a pivoted latch 38 thereon.

The yarn feed finger I4 projects downwardly immediately outside the cylinder needles and on account of the close space in which it has 'to work it must be provided with some means to prevent breakage of the cylinder needles. Accordingly, the lower end of the yarn feednger has a V-shaped cam having surfaces 40 and 4I terminating in a point 42, This ypoint 42 is slightly above the pivot points of the latches for the cylinder needles, so that it is seen that the cam surfaces 40 and 4I will serve to either open case a' latch is closed a defective lstocking will be produced, but this is preferred to the breaking of needles.

spring yarn clamp 45 thereon.

conventional movable yarn clamp 46 thereon 'I'he lower end of the yarn feed finger I4 projects in the direction of travel of the dial and-cylinder of the machine and projects downwardly and inwardly at the same time and has an eye 44 therein through which the elastic strand 30 is passed so as to deliver the yarn to the needles at a pointwhere'no knitting will occur and at a point below the dial needles and below 4the latches of the cylinder needles so that it will not be engaged thereby and at a point where the cylinder needles will likewise not engage it so that the cylinder needles -will engage alternate loops on the ordinary strand and the dial needles will engage the other loops so that the strand is.

knitted across the elastic stran'd in the manner shown in Figures 8 to 11 inclusive, without either the cylinder or dial needles knitting the elastic strand, `except for a loop or two, but merely laying it in, in the manner shown and described.

The dial cap 33 has the conventional leaf It also has the which is operated in a conventional manner. It also has conventional shears 41 thereon which is also operated in a conventional manner. The clamp 46 and the shears 41 are operated by suitable instrunientalities, not shown, controlled by the auxiliary pattern drum when the elastic strand is withdrawn from laying in position.

The dial cap has its upper surface beveled on the side next to the throat plate 48 and the yarn fingers 49. In order to introduce the elastic 'strand at a thin place in the dial cap where it will traverse the cylinder needles, I mount a pin 50 in the dial cap to prevent the elastic strand from passing over the high edge of the dial cap and being held where it will not be engaged by the hooks of the cylinder needles when it is lntroduced to laying in position.

In Figure l the elastic strand is shown after it has been introduced and has passed completely around the cylinder and has passed inside the cylinder needles at the throat plate and is being laid in.

, Although Figure 2 is `taken alongthe line 2-2 in Figure 1, the elastic strand 30 is shown in a different position, being in the position it occupies when rst lowered to a position where it will be caught by the hook of one of the cylinder -needles, as it is seen that in introducing the elastic strand, it is passedv between two cylinder needles and being held by the spring clamp 45 the hook of a cylinder needle will carry the elastic strand around to knitting position where the end of the elastic strand is pulled from beneath the spring clamp. Although the elastic strand4 face, but it is also evident that this main drum cannot be used for throwing th'e elastic strand out of position where it will be laid into the fabric because it moves too slowly and would not raise feed finger I4 and placed cast-off dial needles move out and the iary pattern drum 26 will throw the elastic strand out of operation long before,the main drum 21 has moved far enough for cam 28 to engage the lever 20a and therefore the auxiliary pattern drum will throw it out of operation and not in- `terfere with the top of the stocking.

a finished top is shown asmade onl InFigure 7, one type of machine i'n which usually` a. small welt W will be knitted and then the yarn feed finger i4 will be automatically lowered and the portion E will have the elastic strand laid thereinto, which will be withdrawn long before the top ribbed portion has beenrcompleted andthe remainder of the top will be knitted of ordinary ribbed fabric by the dial and cylinder needles but without laying the elastic strand therein, although it is evident that the entire ribbed portion could have a strand either elastic or otherwise, laid therein, if desired.

It is also well understood in the art, that in knitting ribbed fabric that alternate cylinder needles are used with all ,of the dial needles, as there are twice as many cylinder needles as dial needles and by using half of the cylinder needles only, then the dial needles pass between the cylinder needles and engage the knitting strand bethus resulting in altween' the cylinder needles ternate loops being engaged by the hook dial needles and the other loops are engaged bythe cylinder needles.

The elastic strand is threaded through the yarn under the conventional clamp and in front of pin- 50 and when the elastic strand finger is lowered one of the cylinder needles engages the elastic strand because from pin5ll to eye 44, it goes in front of one of the cylinder needles. This needle, and possibly another, receives the same in their along with the top yarn at the knitting point, and then the yarn is carried around on the outside of the cylinder needles and when it reaches the throat plate, where'the conventional knitting operation takes place, the conventional knitting occurs which consists of a course of the top yarn being engaged by alternate cylinder needles as only one-half of the cylinder needles are in operation during thisoperation and the hooked dial needles move out between and engage the top yarn and pull the alternate loops back against the dial and then the alternate cylinder needles from their loops. At this-point, the cylinder needles, being lowered, allow the elastic strand to pass in and rest on the loops held by the hooked dial needles. On the next revolution, the elastic strand being laid on all of the loops held by the hook dialneedles for a complete revolution, the second and subsequent knitting operations take place on the second and needles engage the strand of yarn being knitted andthecast-off needles cast oi the loops held by the cast-'off ldial needles onto the loop being formed at that time by the hooked dial needles.v

It is thus seen that the elastic strand is not knitted except at its ends but is laid in between complete the opening of the latches.

hooks to be knitted in the cylinder needles 'stantially the same hook dialN inder needles.

In Figures 8 to 11 inclusive, manner in which the elastic strand is laid in the knitting of the ribbed top. It is seen-that the Icylinder needles 31 engage the top yarn t and that the dial needles 34 and 35 engage the top yarn between the loops formed bythe cylinder needles, and Figure 10 shows the hook and castoi dial needles in position where they move their loop outwardly over the laid in elastic strand to a point where the hook needles 34 willengage the next course of top yarn t and then the cast-olf needle will cast off the already formed loop onto the new loop being formed by the hook dial needles. This lays the elastic strand in between the 'wales formed by the dial needles and the wales formed by the cylinder needles. The knitting of the dial and cylinder needles is in the conventional manner,`but a description of same has been madein order to show how the elastic strand is laid in during this ribbing operation.

3 the wales formed by the dial needles and the cylthere is shown the y The cylinder needles form the loops c, while the dial needles form the loops d.

The latches in the needles will be entirely openv yarn fed thereto, and the conventional latch yarn breaks, or the needles are not leveled or lowered properly due to some imperfection of the machine, -resulting in the latches not being entirely open but occupying a position below a horn izontal plane passing through the pivot point of the latch, then the lower cam surface ,4I will `If. the latches should -be projecting upwardly but .not entirely closed, then of course, it is evident lthat they could not take the elastic strand and the upper cam surface 40 would completely close these latches resulting in an imperfect knitting, but it would prevent the needles and latches of the machine from being broken.

Figuresiz and 1 3 s ow a slightly modied form of feed lingerr` 52 which hasintegral with `the lower end thereof an outstanding projection 53 through which a suitable inclined eyelet 54 is provided. The projection 53 is disposed onthe side of the finger which is farthest removed from the hooksI of the needles 31 in. order thatthe linger may be operated in close proximity to theA needles. The finger is also provided with an en- 1 largement or heel 55, said heel having inclined beveled surfaces 56 and 51 which meet at a. common point 58. Likewise, this point is adapted to be placed at an elevation which is subas the vpivot point of the latches so that any latches which' might be partially opened or closed as they pass .the nger, will be deflected downwardly or upwardly by beveled surfaces 56 or 51.

In Figures 14 and 15, still another modified form of finger is shown, which is denoted by reference character 60. This nger has an outstanding lug 6I integral with its lower cend through which an eyelet 62 is provided whose longitudinal axis is substantially parallel to the 'direction of travel of the cylinder needles. The projection and eyelet are disposed on the side of the finger 60 which is farthest removed'from the hooks of the cylinder needles 31.for the same reason as set forth in the preceding form. It is desirable, at times, to position the eyelet in this manner Aso that the amount of friction producedv as strand 30 passes through the eyelet 62 to the needles 31 will be materially reduced; however, it is not possible to deliver the strand 30 as close to the needles in this form as in the form shown in the preceding gures where the outlet of the eyelets are disposed on the side of the feed finger which is adjacent the needles. AA heel 63 is provided which has arcuate surfaces or edges 64 and 65, said edges intersecting as at B6. This point 66 is also adapted to operate at an elevation substantiallyv the same as that of the pivot points of the latches 38, when they pass theA nger 6U, so that any latches which are outstanding will be either closed or opened by beveled edges 64 or 65, thereby preventing damage to the needles.

When the ribbed top of a stocking is knitted on a Scott & Williams model HH knitting machine it is customary to use alternate cylinder needles and all of the dial needles. It will be noted by referring to Figure 1 that the conventional dividing cam 31h engages the butts 37a of the low needles 3l and forces these needles downwardly immediately before these needles reach the point o f introduction of the elastic strand 30, whereas, the alternate high needles are disposed at such an elevation that their butts 31a will pass over cam 31h. This cam will prevent the hooks of the alternate loW needles from engaging the strand 30 at any time.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set fo-rth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. 'in a knitting machine having revolving dial needles and also having cylinder needles provided with pivoted latches and also having revolving dial needles, a vertically movable yarn feed nger for feeding a strand to the outside of the cylinder needles thereof and below the latches thereof, and below a horizontal plane defined by the dial needles so that the strand will be inlaid between the loops formed by the dial needles and the loops formed by the cylinder needles, the leading edge of the lower end of said nger having a pair of diverging cam surfaces thereon Vand occu# pying substantially the same vertical plane for engaging and opening or closing the latches of any needles which are notv already opened.

2. A yarn feed'inger for knitting machines, provided with revolving cylinder needles having pivoted latches and also having dial needles, comprising a yarn feeding portion disposed on the outside of the cylinder needles and having an eye disposed below the latches of the needles and through which the yarn is passed to the exterior of the needles and below the latches thereof to be inlaid between the loops formed by the dial and cylinder needles, and having a cam surface in advance of and above the eye for engaging and moving the latches of any needles whose latches are not completely opened.

3. In a knitting machine having revolving cylinder needles and dial needles, and a throat plate having yarn feedv fingers for feeding yarn to the needles, a strand feeding finger disposed .immediately outside the cylinder needles at a point where the needles will pass the strand feeding iinger -before they reach the throat plate, said finger having an eye, in its lower end for feeding an inlay yarn below. the latches of the cylinder needles, means for lowering the strand` feeding nger to a point Where its strand will be engaged by tli'e hooks of some of the needles and fed below the latches of the other needles to thereby knit the strand at some needles and lay itin at the other needles.

4. In a knitting machine, a yarn feed :linger disposed for vertical movement immediately outside the cylinder needles of said machine at a point in advance of the throat plate of said machine, said nger having diverging surfaces near its lower end for opening or closing the latches of any needles which may have their latches par tially opened, and having an eye in its lower end for feeding a strand on the outside of and below vthe latches of the needles.

ROBERT H. COLEMAN.

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